2016 Kia Optima
Kia are fast building up quite a reputation for themselves by building great looking SUVs and stylish superminis. However, success in Europe in the saloon market has so far evaded them. Will this change with the Optima?
Buyers in this corner of the market are really spoilt for choice. A car needs to be pretty special to woo customers away from the class leaders so the Optima certainly has its work cut out. When it comes to how it looks it gets off to a positive start with strong lines and that distinctive Kia nose helping it to stand out.
Unfortunately, things do take a bit of a nose-dive once you get inside. Although there’s no denying that fact that it’s solid, well built and got good adjustment in the seat and steering wheel, it’s just an uninspiring place to be. It feels quite dated in a way and it’s totally dominated by black shades. By ‘dominated’ we mean black is absolutely everywhere you look, from the seats right through to the dashboard material. This is such a shame because buyers in this corner of the market spend a lot of their time sat in their cars driving so they really do deserve a nicer place to sit in all honesty.
One thing they won’t complain about though is the amount of equipment that you get. Kia has helpfully labelled the trim levels on the cars from 1 through to 4. The entry level on the Optima is a 2 and this gives you 17 inch alloys, air conditioning, a 7 inch touchscreen sat-nav, electronic stability control, hill start assistance, Bluetooth with voice recognition, LED daytime running lights and rear fog lights all fitted as standard. The Optima 3 gets an updated stereo, lane assist, a larger touchscreen and chunkier alloy wheels.
Life is all about compromise and it’s a real trade-off in the cabin where you’d have to live with a pretty uninspiring environment. However, you get lots of things that other manufacturers will charge you extra for with the Kia Optima. You’ve got an excellent sized glove box, large central cubby holes under the arm rest, a couple of storage areas and two cup holders. So, overall in terms of practicality it absolutely hits the mark.
Out on the road the Optima gives you a fairly comfortable and relaxing drive. As of typing, it comes with just one engine which is a 1.7 litre diesel although a sporty 2.0 litre turbo petrol version does arrive later. The Optima 3 comes with a choice of a 6-speed manual or 7-speed automatic gearbox. If you’re looking for better fuel economy then we recommend you opt for the manual. Kia actually claim that it will do 67 miles to the gallon although in our tests we were averaging more around the 47 mark. If it’s power you’re after then there’s plenty available right throughout the gears. The Optima also handles very well. It’s got excellent grip with minimal body roll through the corners. However, our biggest gripe comes with the steering. The steering is simply too light and while this is fine driving around town it begins to feel a little vague at higher speeds. Another issue is to do with the noise. The diesel engines can only be described as “rattly” particularly when you put your foot down. There’s also a bit too much vibration coming through to the steering.
Moving on to the price, we just don’t think it’s competitive enough. The Kia Optima costs more than a Skoda Superb and whilst it does come with Kia’s amazing 7-year warranty we’re just not sure that the Optima is special enough to woo buyers away from the competition.
